Collateral Damage
by EA Thomas
Summary: Rodney is about to get his world turned upside down.


Doctor Rodney McKay locked his knees as the puddle jumper landed in front of him and Samantha Carter's voice echoed in his ears, her warning was clear…"I'm not ordering you to do anything McKay. I'm strongly requesting and so help me God if you—"

"I get it," he had said, trying to avoid any further tongue-lashing. "Treat her like everyone else but be nice…I get it."

She had smiled at him, but the warning was still clear in her eyes even through a video screen from millions light years away and he still couldn't help but think she was even more beautiful for it.

"You owe me."

This had earned him the classic Sam Carter scowl he had come to know and love. "I do not."

Rodney returned to the real world to see a young blonde woman walking his way.

"Doctor McKay I presume?"

He tilted his head ever so slightly but refused to let this little girl throw him off balance with such an obvious cliché. "What? Yes, that's me. Doctor Blake?"

She smiled and the room seemed to light up around her. "In the flesh, but please, I'm use to being the youngest scientist in the room—call me Jayne."

Rodney nodded. "Very well, but uh—you still call me Doctor McKay…cause uh…."

The smile faded from her face and was replaced by something else that Rodney couldn't put a finger on. Pain? Embarrassment? Disappointment? He was hoping that she had just eaten something spicy for lunch.

"I get it," she said, squaring her shoulders as she stepped a little closer and lowered her voice. "I'm very aware of my situation here."

Rodney couldn't help but find amusement in this and the corners of his mouth curved slightly. "Oh you are, are you?"

"I know I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Sam's inexplicable big sister complex. But let me say this, the only reason I didn't get here on my own is because, until recently, my work wasn't acknowledged by the government. Now I'm being allowed to pursue my own ventures in my field of expertise and just because I had help getting assigned here doesn't mean I won't earn my place here. So don't think for one moment that I'm some bench sitter that's waiting on a free ride because…I'm not."

There was that light to her again. The whole room seemed to darken in the corners. Rodney was trying so hard not to smile. It was all he could do not to smile as this young woman that had somehow managed to reflect not only Sam Carter in her eyes but Rodney could even see a part of himself in her passion. For a moment, it struck him—if he and Samantha Carter ever had a child, she would be just like this.

Rodney huffed. "Are you sure you're not related to Colonel Carter?" He asked, letting a sly smile break through. "She likes to make speeches too."

Rodney turned and started down the hall. Doctor Jayne Blake hesitated for a moment, deciding whether if his comment had been a joke or an insult.

"Come along, Jayne!" Rodney called out.

Jayne ran after him.

Rodney walked into the science lab with Jayne on his heels. Without pause he began to ask random questions to the other scientists working around the room. Jayne watched him and stopped at the end of a crowded table trying her best to stay out of the way.

Rodney made a full circle of the room and picked up an equipment pack and slung it to Jayne as he picked up a diagnostic screen.

"All right, let's get to work."

Jayne opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.

"I'm sorry, did you have other plans?"

Jayne didn't say a word. She slung the pack over her shoulder and walked out into the hall.

Rodney trailed after her. "All right—so the enthusiasm is great and all but you don't even know where you're going." He yelled after her.

Jayne stopped with a heavy sigh. "I've always found that if you don't know something, it's better to just fake it."

"Hmm, yes, well, not here. The last thing I need is for you to go and get lost in the city."

"Oh?" Jayne asked, that spark of light flashing in her eyes.

"Yes." Rodney said, trying to ignore his voice cracking. "Yes, well, do you have any idea how many people would have to take time away from important work to find the little girl who got lost in the big ancient city on her first day!"

Jayne's lips softened and she walked back to him. "I'll put you at ease Doctor McKay. I memorized the layout of the city before I left the SGC. I couldn't get lost here if I tried."

"Well, how resourceful of you."

"No, not quite. I have a photographic memory."

Rodney's interest was peaked but he refused to show it.

Jayne copied his sly grin from a few moments before. "Jealous yet?"

"Of you? What possible reason would I have to be jealous of some wet behind the ears little-"

"Sam said you get uh…professionally jealous…quite easily."

Rodney's lips pursed and he silently damned Sam Carter. "Well, as true as that might be—having a photographic memory isn't all that special."

"Do you have a photographic memory?" She asked, innocently.

"No."

"Hmm, well then—are you going to lead the way Doctor McKay?"

McKay didn't answer.

The briefing room seemed too small today. But Colonel Sheppard waited patiently for Elizabeth to finish with her afternoon report from the SGC before he stood from his seat.

"Is that everything?"

Elizabeth folded her hands. "Yes, what's the rush?"

Sheppard winced. "McKay has a little…protégé—of sorts."

Elizabeth gave a tight-lipped smile. "Yes, Doctor Blake, I had forgotten. I spoke to her last week, she seems very…"

"Scared?"

"I was going to say timid."

"Same thing. Anyway, she got here about 0800 and I figured that 12 hours of McKay was enough for anyone."

"You going to give her a break?"

"I was gonna try."

"Go on, make sure she knows we're all not a bunch of…"

"McKay's?"

"You're reading my mind today."

"Can't help it, I love a good read." Sheppard offered a tight grin before heading off to find McKay and his newest unfortunate protégé.

Sheppard made the last turn down the hallway where McKay and Blake had spent the last 12 hours crammed into a corridor testing the systems in the newest area so Atlantis to be converted into living quarters.

The scene before him nearly made Sheppard laugh out loud but at the risk of provoking McKay he stifled it. Choosing instead to lean against the cold metal wall and wait for a moment before interrupting.

An open panel in the ceiling had been opened and a pair of blue sneakers with dark pink laces poked out over the edge. The left foot bounced to a silent rhythm.

McKay was half hidden in another panel in the wall. He was speaking in his usual tone somewhere between obnoxiously loud and condescending ass.

"No, it's not the router!" yelled Rodney.

"If you say that one more time I'm throwing that damn convert box into what ever ocean that is out there!" Yelled an annoyed female voice from the ceiling.

"Listen here little missy!" Rodney yelled, turning from the hole in the wall to yell at the hole in the ceiling. Only catching him self when he saw Sheppard. "Oh, Sheppard, hello, what's up?"

Sheppard glanced up to the hole in the ceiling. Rodney waved his hand to get his attention back.

"Hey, what do you want?"

"I just came to introduce myself…as the senior ranking military officer it's my job to play the welcoming committee."

"Right."

Without warning, a young woman jumped down from the ceiling and landed right between Rodney and Sheppard. She nearly lost her balance but Sheppard caught her arm, Jayne pulled it away as soon as she found her feet.

"Talking about me already?" she asked Rodney.

"Hi there," Sheppard said, holding his hand out to shake hers. "You must be Doctor Blake."

Jayne shook his hand quickly. "Yes, and you must be Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard. Colonel Mitchell told me about you. He said you were a good guy to have around in a pinch."

"Well, I don't know about that but I was going to see if Doctor McKay here would let you take a break for a little while. I thought we could get some lunch and I could answer any questions you might have, take you on the 50 cent tour of the city."

Jayne looked back at McKay as if to ask for help but she quickly turned back to Sheppard. "Doctor Beckett is going to bring us lunch. And I already know the base, I uh, studied the blue prints."

Sheppard was speechless. He looked to Rodney but he just shrugged his shoulders. Her whole demeanor had changed; she was the scared little girl he had seen a week ago on the vid-screen.

"All right, well, welcome to Atlantis. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask…and Rodney…try not to work her into the ground on her first day in a new galaxy?"

Rodney didn't answer and Sheppard turned and walked away from the awkward young lady who clearly didn't want him around.

Once Sheppard was out of sight, Jayne turned and braced her foot against the wall. "Can you give me a boost?"

Rodney bent and braced her second foot so she could climb back up into the ceiling. He watched her until her feet disappeared into the hole. "I'll call Beckett and see if he'll bring us lunch!"

"Okay!"

It was nearly time for dinner when Rodney told Jayne to pack up the equipment. His plan had been to work until she started to complain but it had been well over 12 hours and his growling stomach and twitchy fingers were over ruling his stubborn nature.

Once they made it back to the lab, Rodney showed her around now that everyone had found less productive things to do for the evening. McKay made certain to specify the different areas of the lab, which were, his area and everything else.

Rodney paused mid-sentence and rubbed his stomach. "I'm starving. They are serving meatloaf tonight. What do you say?"

Jayne nodded. "Yes, but if you don't mind, I need to stop by my room first. I can meet you in the cafeteria."

"Yes, great idea." Rodney left the room before she could say another word.

Jayne walked down the hall to her assigned room and had a passing thought. For the first time, in a very long time--she wasn't surrounded by the sanitized walls of Area-51. The realization was almost scary but she couldn't think about that now.

She wanted to break into a full sprint to her room but there were still too many people around and she didn't want to pick up any unnecessary attention just yet.

Jayne forced her hand to remain steady as she waved her palm over the scanner that opened her door with a fluid sound that repeated as the doors closed behind her.

Alone at last, she allowed her nerves to acknowledge the pain that had been racking her body for the last three hours and her knees nearly buckled but she pulled herself over to the two trunks that the guards had delivered earlier. Jayne pulled at the first trunk until the combination was staring her down. One deep breath and she worked the numbers until the red light on the side turned green. Then she popped the top open.

Inside the trunk, her clothes lay neatly folded but she wasn't looking for her favorite sweater just yet. She pulled at the hard cover on the underside of the lid and it popped open. She let the hard plastic cover fall flat to reveal a row of syringes along the right side of the lip and three rows of pockets that took up the remaining space. Each pocket held a vile of light blue liquid.

She pulled a syringe out and a vile, still forcing her hands to remain steady; she leaned back against the trunk and felt tears running down her face as she filled the syringe with the blue liquid. She set the vile on the floor and wasted no time in jamming the needle into her leg, pushing the liquid into her body.

She let the tears come now and let out a small cry of relief as she pulled of the needle and laid it on the ground beside the vile. She took a few slow, deep breaths and the pain started to fade into the background of her mind. Her muscles were relaxing and with on final deep breath, she got to her feet.

She walked over to the mirror on the wall and frowned at her reflection. It had been a while since she had seen herself like this. She forgot how ugly she could look sometimes. Tears always left a visible trail on her pale features that no amount of makeup could cover.

All she could do was brush out her long blonde hair that always refused to do anything but hang at her shoulders. The only true improvement was the cherry chapstick that managed to cover the paleness of her lips. She braided her hair back in a single plait and smiled at her reflection. Doctor Holton would be proud of her to see her like this. When he first come into her life, she had been nothing more than a skinny, sullen and mousy ghost of a child that didn't know what life had to offer her beyond darkness and abandonment.

Those first few days seemed a lifetime away now. But here, in her pale and simple reflection she could still see the same scared little girl looking back at her through her swollen red eyes that concealed the lifetime of pain she had tried like hell to forget.


End file.
